Aotearoa does hip hop and soul better than anyone. I might be slightly biased, because I love the country and pretty much everything about it, but after Saturday night at the Gaelic Club, it was confirmed.

The land of the long white cloud was being represented, and I mean REPRESENTED, by the beautiful Ladi6 (Karoline Tamati, with band members Brent Park and Julien Dyne) and Electric Wire Hustle (Taay Ninh, Mara TK and Myele Manzanza). A long white cloud was pretty much where the boys from EWH took us. With their soulful, funky and laid-back groove, they were the perfect starter. After overcoming a few minor issues with the sound they put on a performance that was overall really good.

Ladi6 was just straight up awesome. Seriously, if I was only allowed one sentence for this review, it would be Ladi6 is awesome. I had heard amazing things about the energy she brings to her live shows, but it is something that you really have to see and experience for yourself (really, see her before she becomes a Badu/Blige kind of superstar).

Since I was first introduced to the popular Walk Right Up from her 2009 album Time is Not Much, I had an image of the MC in my mind as a nice girl with a thing for bad boys. I’m now convinced otherwise, because this Ladi is gutsy and strong, yet still open and even a little vulnerable, which makes her so likeable.

Now that we are dealing with the recently released The Liberation of…, watch out, because I have a feeling that Ladi6 is only just discovering exactly how awesome she really is…